tarboat's photos

A short time before the city level crossings were replaced by road underpasses, a JS class loco heads up the branch to Mine 1 on the Pingdingshan Coal Railway. We nearly missed this shot and the locals are all looking back down the road to see the westerners rushing about to try to get their photographs! We hoped another train might come and the local people brought out chairs for us to sit on whilst we waited. This sort of kindness is quite common in such places.

Boss security man is on his way as the discussions between his junior operative and myself were proving too slow in removing my presence from outside the National Grid Gas facility at Carrington. I had already walked right around the perimeter on various paths but it transpired that the stretch of road I was standing on here was private property with no public rights over it. Once this became clear I didn't hang around, particularly as I had already got the shots I wanted.

Up and about early one morning in October 2004 I decided to try for a shot at Yuzhoudi, between Linxi and Reshui on the approaches to the Jinpeng section of the Jitong line. The result was plenty of glint and a nice exhaust as both locos dug into the job. There was still time for a quick dash back up the road to catch the train again on the S curves a mile or two away.

For marie_crivel - the logo of Earle's Cement, which was the company that built the Hope cement works in Derbyshire.

Dump trucks at the Lafarge limestone quarry above the Hope cement works.

East Float corn mill is thought to have been built in 1850 to the design of G F Lyster. Today it stands almost alone alongside the remains of Birkenhead Docks and has been converted to apartments.

A pair of class 83 0-8-2 locomotives pass a mosque west of Banovici as they head uphill with the empties for Turija opencast mine.

Another load of coal empties heads towards Sandaoling across the desert landscape after an overnight snowfall.

A small coal mine near Jixi. The winding house is top right and the top of the sheaves can just be seen above the steep slant into the mine. This mine was closed in early 2008 but was still in full production when this shot was made.

Westport Quay grain silo

I really wanted to see the ropeway loading and start point at Banovici but it was hidden at the back of the washery, well out of the public gaze. However, fortune favours the brave, and after a series of misadventures I finally found myself watching the tubs of dirt as they began their long journey to the tip with a steep climb of the ridge behind the loading station.

The coal mining at Yima was coming to an end and the railway system reflected this. When the doors of the locked-up depot were opened we were greeted by silence and snow covered locomotives. A large section of the roof was missing. These great beasts did not have long to live.

Littons Mill Crossing has brand new warning lights on the gates. They may now be electric but look little different from the old oil burning examples. Seen in the background is the former Crosfields soapworks which has recently seen Ineos Silicas merge with PQ Corporation.

The former LNWR line threads its way from Arpley towards Ditton Junction through the former Crosfields soapworks and is seen here just after Littons Mill Crossing. The line is now used almost entirely by trains carrying coal to Fiddler's Ferry power station.

The morning passenger service picks its way through the mist as it passes the Tianzhuang yard and depot on the Pingdingsham Coal Railway.

Grain silos one side and sand/gravel stocks on the other.

The Vreoci area of Serbia has extensive opencast coal workings as well as deep mines. This bucketwheel excavator is removing overburden at one of the opencast mines.

Drax is Britain's largest power plant, providing about 7% of the power requirements for the country. Its capacity is 3945 MW. Seen here from the coal tips at Hatfield Colliery near Doncaster.